Luke Littler has been told to stay grounded by Bobby George after another darts icon, Dennis Priestley, claimed money may have gone to The Nuke’s head. Just one year on from his Alexandra Palace introduction, Littler hurtles into the impending renewal as tournament favourite.
However, having racked up a reported £1million in career earnings – alongside Premier League, Grand Slam of Darts and World Series Finals titles – George, twice a world finalist himself, has issued the young prodigy with a caution.
George shares fears similar to those of the 1994 PDC world champion and fellow darts hero Priestley, who claimed that the money could have gone to Littler’s head and pleaded with the 17-year-old not to get swept away by his quickly-found fame.
“A young man like that, earning that money… I’m sure he wants to spend it on the things that we all did,” stated George. “Nice car, nice clothes – sometimes it can be difficult when all of those things come at once.
“The reality is, it’s hard for people to expect someone like Luke to behave in exactly the same way he did before Ally Pally last year because he turned into a superstar at that tournament. His life changed, and he probably couldn’t do all the normal things he used to do.
“Money and fame, it can be awkward for some people. People can change. My advice to him would be to simply keep his feet on the ground and do exactly what he’s done all year play darts and don’t get involved in people saying, ‘Sign this contract, do this,’ because there’s a lot of sharks out there.
“Just keep your feet on the ground, don’t grow up too quickly. You can go from a hero to zero overnight in darts. If he keeps his head down, has the right people around him and stays dedicated to the game, he’s going to make a lot more money in his career, that boy.”
George’s cautionable comment comes after two-time world champion Priestley issued similar worries for the darting phenom earlier this July.
“It’s a possibility that the money and fame could’ve gone to Luke’s head,” Priestley told OLBG. “He may just look at his bank account in the morning and think ‘oh crikey, there’s £1million here. Where did that come from?’”
Should Littler fulfil his destiny and become a teenage world champion, he would stare a £500,000 prize in the face and only bolster these expectations – alongside his bank account.
Yet, he faces a stiff opening tie against either Fallon Sherrock or Ryan Meikle before potentially meeting a range of top-ranked players in his quarter, namely Rob Cross and Nathan Aspinall.
